Perfectly pleasant coffee and cake, with good service. However, the ambience of the historic cafe is spoiled by the overcrowding. There is nothing elegant or special about queues of tracksuit-clad tourists queuing on every stairwell. The unique decor is also a little tired, perhaps due to the numbers passing through. Severely overpriced (think "tea at the Ritz" rather than "historic cafe"). More rewarding offerings are available further away from the city centre.
Don’t waste your time here, long lines, service terrible. We asked for a table for a larger group and were told no, and walked away. Cakes were dry and uninteresting, coffee was ok, hot chocolate luke warm and not tasty. In the end, they demanded a tip as well .. no happy with service, food, wait time. Don’t come here
We waited in line for about 15 min for a table on the main floor Friday afternoon. Under the recommendation of the friendly lady by the cake display case, we ordered the famous Viennese Sachertorte and the Chocolate cake. To our disappointment, the cakes were drier than what we are accustomed to. We typically enjoy French style cakes and pastries so perhaps could not appreciate this Viennese style. The cafe latte and tea we had was good. There is a cake museum in the basement of this shop.
There is nothing especially noteworthy about their desserts. We tried four different items. None of them were particularly good.
Add in the high prices and snooty staff and you have one more example of a place cruising on its past reputation.
Save your money for a new cafe where they are actually trying to satisfy their clients.
Fabulous cakes and tasty coffees await when you pull up an outside seat and watch the great and the good of Vienna saunter by. Though there may be a slight wait to find a seat, it's well rewarded by the tasty treats on offer.
Very busy place. But worth a visit. I came here on Sunday noon and was lucky enough to score a seat at the bar. Staff was friendly even though she had to handle so many people! I ordered Einspänner and tried apfelstrudel (heard it's famous in Vienna). Loved the coffee but not sure about the dessertmaybe it's because I don't like to eat dessert anymore?? Nevertheless, it was a great experience!
It been always pleasure to go to the Demel. Pastries are delicious. You need patience to have a place because it's always full with clients so very often we are on waiting list.
A lovely place to have a desert and tea. This place is often crowded. The cakes look fantastic but the taste is only above average. Good central location.
Great experience depends on the timing obviously. The reviews that critique the service when its busy obviously don't have common sense.
Of course service will suffer when its busy. If you go here when its not too busy like 3pm when we came we had a lovely experience. Coffees were excellent, food was good and our cake the strawberry cheesecake amazing. Probably one of my favorite cheese cake of all time.
We had excellent service from our server Denise very sweet with a lovely smile.
Some tips: if busy downstairs go upstairs and get a table there. Beautiful rooms and relaxed atmosphere.
This place has lots of cake. I love the fact that you can watch them make the cake. I prefer the original Sachertorte at Hotel Sacher but theirs is good too and they have other great cakes.
Tasty and classy. If you are looking for a place full of history for having breakfast or an afternoon snack with some of the famous Austrian cakes, that's your place. Coffee is quite expensive but you can enjoy all their cakes and pastries for a reasonable price considering the fame of this bakery.
It's still a very good place for cake and hot chocolate/tea on a cold winter day But have they ever thought of getting a floor manager to direct the waitresses? The line is out through the door, but tables are not cleared for 15 minutes or more from people leave. Getting the bill is a minor saga, too. If someone was there to keep the waitresses on their toes they could get 50% more customers through in a day, and that without rushing anyone!
Great for having some afternoon snack such as spiced chocolate with or without sweets like cakes or savoury like pastries.
Really classic and comfortable atmosphere.
Very good service too!
Lovely atmosphere. Really good selection of coffees. Excellent selection of cakes! Good, friendly, service. Advice: don't ask for "a coffee". Ask for a particular coffee e.g. a Melange or an Irish.